Retail industry

West ready to give Gorazde to the Serbs

Article Abstract:

The eastern Bosnian enclave of Gorazde, the only place in the area still controlled by the Muslim-led Bosnian government, may be handed over by western governments to the Bosnian Serbs as part of efforts to reach a workable peace settlement there. The Muslim-led government may receive more land in the Sarajevo area in return for Gorazde, making the basis of a Bosnian Muslim state more secure. Western public opinion may be against the sacrifice of Gorazde, especially as Nato was only recently expressing its willingness to defend the enclave.

Serbs stranded on a dead-end road

Article Abstract:

Communism and war have left Serbia in a poor economic state where inflation is 211.8% in Feb 1993 and the average wage in public services is 815,000 dinars (30 pounds sterling) a month. The government set a maximum price for a loaf of bread at 2,300 dinars, so bakers stopped baking. Farmers would not sell wheat to the state because the price was not high enough, so there is a lack of basic food. There are about 700,000 unemployed, 70% of whom have no income. Crime is rising.

The Bosnian Serbs have significantly increased tension in the war in former Yugoslavia by seizing a number of unarmed United Nations observers to use as human shields. Nato must now decide whether to continue to confront the Bosnian Serbs, as this could risk the lives of the United Nations personnel. There is also a growing danger that the war could destabilise the west's relations with Russia, with president Boris Yeltsin having called for an end to Nato strikes.